Zack Davisson is a writer, editor, lecturer, scholar and translator, especially known for translating

Shigeru Mizuki was a Japanese manga artist and historian, best known for his manga series ''GeGeGe no Kitarō''. Born in a hospital in Osaka and raised in the city of Sakaiminato, Tottori, he later moved to Chōfu, Tokyo where he remained until his death. ...

's and Matsumoto Leiji's

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

. He is also well known for his works on

Japanese folklore Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, customs, and material culture. In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The academic study ...

and ghosts. In 2015, Davisson wrote his first book, ''Yurei: The Japanese Ghost''. Davisson went on to translating works of

, a popular

artist and historian in Japan, into English. Davisson has cited Japanese writer

Lafcadio Hearn , born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (; el, Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χέρν, Patríkios Lefkádios Chérn, Irish language, Irish: Pádraig Lafcadio O'hEarain), was an Irish people, Irish-Greeks, Greek-Japanese people, Japanese writer, t ...

as an inspiration on his work, and has himself been called "a modern day Lafcadio Hearn".

Personal life

Davisson was born in

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

but grew up in

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

, Washington state. He aspired to be an artist, which gave foundations to his creative and career eventually. He did MA in Japanese Studies from

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. He also actively participated in

JET Programme The , or , is a Japanese government initiative that brings college (university) graduates—mostly native speakers of English—to Japan as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) and Sports Education Advisors (SEAs) in Japanese kindergartens, elementa ...

and lived in Japan from 2001–2008. He married Miyuki Davisson in Osaka. Currently, he lives in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

Career

Davisson started his career as a freelancer, before working as a writer and editor for Japanese magazines like ''

Japanzine ''Japanzine'' is a Japan-based English-language magazine, published by Carter Witt Media. Now 20 years in publication, it is the successor magazine to ''The Alien'' and caters largely to the expatriate community in Japan. Each edition of the maga ...

'' and ''Kansai Time-Out''. During his student life in university, he got the idea to be a translator as well. After translating few works in English, he gained enough popularity to translate Shigeru Mizuki's works. His first professional translation was Mizuki's manga series '' Showa: A History of Japan''. He runs a website, Hyakumonogatari.com, where his translated works on manga & Japanese horror legends are published.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davisson, Zack American writers 1972 births Living people Collectors of fairy tales Ghost story writers Japanese folklorists Japanologists 21st-century American translators Japanese–English translators American subtitlers Video game localization Manga